On the long road back

ABOUT 100 MILES SOUTH OF SALT LAKE CITY ON I-15 OUTSIDE A DAIRY QUEEN THAT’S CLOSED, DAMMIT — I saw the sign for a Dairy Queen at this exit and thought I’d get a Heath Bar Blizzard or, better yet, a Peanut Buster Parfait, and replacing the peanuts with Heath Bars as usual. But it’s closed, and it’s not even 9:30 p.m. MDT.

Stayed in Flagstaff, Ariz., on Monday night after talking with Lou Piniella on Monday morning in Mesa and Willie Mays on Monday afternoon in Scottsdale. I wrote about Piniella, but I won’t be writing anything about Mays. Those were the terms of getting to meet him. I got the opportunity because my brother-in-law is friends with one of Mays’ good friends.

Mays was a childhood hero of mine, so much so that I dressed up like him and went trick-or-treating one night on Halloween; then more than 30 years later, I named my dog after him and Willie Bloomquist. It was a pleasure to meet the 78-year-old Mays, who was wearing a Giants hat when I met him at his home.

Willie — the dog, not the Hall of Famer — and I went to the Grand Canyon this morning. It was cool to see it again; hadn’t seen it in 26 years, but the fact that I chose to come to see it instead of going to Las Vegas makes me think there is something terribly wrong with me, such as I might be showing some maturity or something awful like that.

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I started thinking about going to Vegas and how I’d feel after losing $300 betting on teams that should have won but didn’t, and driving out of town with a hangover. That sorry visual led me to the Grand Canyon, but I will be honest — as I stared at the natural beauty, I couldn’t help but wish I was standing at a craps table looking at the dice rolling and the waitress bringing another free cocktail.

We then drove to Page, Ariz., where Willie took a dip in Lake Powell, and here’s the video capturing that exciting road-trip moment.

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Not sure where we’re going to stay tonight. There’s a Super 8 at this exit, and I’m thinking about stopping but want to get through Salt Lake so I won’t have to deal with rush hour in the morning.